The Balloon Game

Contents

Host

Co-host

Broadcast

BBC-tv, 1953-4

BBC2, 23 May 1975 to 2 August 1976 (13 episodes in 2 series)

Synopsis

H-h-hold the phone! Yes folks, it's the balloon debate on TV! That must have saved a few quid on format fees.

For those of you that don't know, this is a traditional debating game where people from history are said to be in a deflating balloon that can only withstand the weight of one person. Each balloonist (member of the public representing a giant from history) must justify their existence based on their achievements to date. A vote is taken and the loser is chucked out of the balloon. Repeat until one person remains.

The series used debators from schools and colleges.

Trivia

Notional occupants of the balloon in the 1976 series included Beowulf, Robespierre and Abraham Lincoln; W.G. Grace, Nell Gwyn and Rasputin; Lord Byron, Geoffrey Chaucer and Oscar Wilde; and Flora MacDonald, Robert Owen and William McGonagall.